Les Patrons

Created in 2002 by four musicians from Abidjan's Marcory and Koumassy districts - Yohou Eric Corneille, Zéré Kévin, N'Guessan Kouakou Clément and Kouakou N'Guessan Dominique - Les Patrons grew out of performances at family and religious celebrations, inspired mainly by the percussion-based wôyô musical style. The group won the 2002 Zouglou Revelation, the highest award for a group in this style, and released their first album, Nègre noir (2002), which won the BURIDA trophy. Les Patrons captivated audiences from the outset with the themes they evoked, notably the difficulties of the Ivorian population on "Triste destin". Returning to songwriting after several years of live performances, Cœur blanc (2008) was presented at the prestigious Palais de la Culture in Abidjan, opening the doors to a European tour. This was followed by their third album, Haut niveau (2012), with Antonio Dahouindji on production duties, which won them the Best Zouglou Artist award at the Zouglou Awards. While the group saw the departure of two of its members, and tightened around Yohou Eric Corneille and N'Guessan Kouakou Clément, Les Patrons collaborated with Jonas Rendbo and Marina Ammouri on La magie (2016), then approached its twentieth anniversary by signing to Universal for the singles "Pas ça" (2020) and "Zama " (2020), which heralded the release of Trésor (2021). A testament to their success and longevity, the band played to a full house at Le Zénith in Paris in 2022.

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